How much pocket money?

[antelopevalley]

My DD and DS (14 and 16) are complaining and saying they should have more pocket money. If you have children about this age, how much do you give them?

£12 a month for the 11 year old and £10 a month for the 9 year old. It's not much but is helping them learn the value of money and they enjoy going to the shop and buying sweets. We pay for everything else pretty much.

The 16 year old should get a part time job, surely?

I always sound stingy on these threads but £25 a month for the 16 year old and £15 a month on the 12 year old. We pay for clothes/ phone contracts and essential toiletries and occasionally give them extra if they are going out for dinner with friends etc

Dd 15 almost 16 £25 and pays £5 towards her phone contract as it was more expensive than I was happy paying.

Ds 13 £20

That's a month,

I really couldn't afford the social services rates or your rates per week.

I pay for a basic phone contract, basic toiletries, stationery, lunch, clothes and a bus pass - they need that for school. Anything else is out-of-pocket money - so socialising, make-up, fancy toiletries, etc. So I can see it does not go that far. But we are not well off, so I thought they were doing well.

Dd is 13 and I giver her £40 a month. But she also has a Saturday job which she gets roughly £30 and her bus money paid.
She likes to spend her pocket money and save her wages 😂

Depends what they have to pay for. My teens got £40 a month, but they also paid for phones out of that. £15 a week sounds like plenty! Or do you live in a particular affluent area so they feel like poor relations? If the 16 year old wants more money, they could always get a part time job?

I think £15 a week is pretty reasonable but depends what they want to do and spend it on. If they have really active social lives then I can see it might not go far. Do you give more if they go out with friends etc?

I'll join the stingy side, £15 a month for my 13 and 11 year olds put on their HyperJar cards, and I pay for their phones seperately.

@cherriegarcia They do not get any more for socialising. This has to pay for any socialising they do with friends.

It's very "how long is a piece of string" IMO because it depends upon what you expect them to pay for and what you pay for and what other money they have access to.

Mine get an allowance from 14 from which they have to buy all their clothing (with a couple of very specific exceptions agreed from the start), all presents they might want to give anyone, any holiday they go on with friends without us (but not educational or whole class school trips nor anything towards family holidays) and pay for all socialising except sports club annual fees.

Before that they got pocket money which was their school year per week (so 8€ in year 8 or whatever) transferred monthly (so 36€ per month in year 8, 40€ in year 9...) but paid for less.

The allowance was 80€ per month at 14 and 15 and 100€ from 16 (they have to go into the city for sixth form and costs are higher).

One is still 15 but our 17 year old works as well, though ad hoc tutoring and babysitting (her college course is full 8am to 4pm days and a 45 minute commute each way with placements which often have 8am to 6pm days in locations she has to travel further to and she has a lot of coursework and exams so ad hoc work is best, though she has regular tutees who come to us every Saturday and regular babysitting families).

When mine turned 16, she was given the equivalent of her Child Benefit and has to cover everything bar school uniform and supplies/winter coat/phone.
Before that was a random sliding scale depending on when one of us remembered or suggested she may need a bit more

DD gets £50 per month and she’s 13. DS, 17 is currently in debt with us he’s not getting anythinh currently until he pays some off from his part/time job.

Back in the 90’s when I was a teenager, we would get double our age per month. So I guess a bit more now with inflation?? Depends on your income though and what the money is actually used on.

Mine are adults now but when they were teenagers they got £80 a month plus phone, bus pass and toiletries.
They paid for all their socialising and make up and stuff

14yo gets £10 a week, we pay for weekday lunches, phone, gym membership, anything school related and all clothes.
Pocket money is for sweets, pop, ice cream, days out with his mates (public transport, food, buying random shit) FIFA stuff.
He doesn't spend much in the winter term time but in school holidays and in the lighter nights much more.

My DS who is just 15 gets £10 a week. We pay for everything, this is for socialising with his friends, sweets etc. I sometimes give more if he's doing something like go to the cinema etc as this is so expensive. He does supplement it by doing gardening for my parents and brother.

My 10yo gets £5 a week but has to empty the dishwasher every day and keep his room tidy (bed made etc) if this doesn't happen he doesn't get it.

He can also earn money - 10p per room if he hoovers, 50p to walk the dog etc

He has a go Henry account and saves £1 a week.

DS 15 has just gone up to £50 a month,

We buy phone, lunches etc and basic clothes and essentials.

Anything designer, extra trainers, cinema trips, time out with friends etc he is expected to pay for.

It's so variable though. Everyone has different incomes, different expectations, and kids have all sorts of different lifestyles.

I have DS(15) and DD(13), and both get £30 a month paid into their accounts.
I pay for school stuff, phone contracts, essential clothes and toiletries. They are expected to fund their own socialising, whatever birthday gifts they want to buy for friends, and any extra clothes they want.

DS is tighter than two coats of paint - every single penny of that monthly 30 quid has been saved for two years. He wouldn't dream of buying his mates a birthday present, isn't interested in buying clothes, and they never go to the cinema.
He's reasonably sociable - but he and his mates will meet at the park for a game of football or cricket, and DS will take a water bottle with him.

On the other hand, DD is very sociable. She loves meeting up with her friends at the weekend, and going into town. She's starting to get a bit of independence, and is allowed to take the bus into the bigger town 20 minutes away - which has Primark and New Look, so she's in heaven.
They'll often go to Starbucks for a drink, and will arrange to meet at the local cinema on a Saturday afternoon. They've also started going swimming at the Leisure Centre some Sunday afternoons for the fun inflatables sessions.

I've started giving DD some extra pocket money sometimes to cover her extra expenses. I'm aware that this might not be considered totally fair - however, if she runs out of money, then she can't join her friends having fun - and would just sit in her room on her laptop, so that doesn't feel right either?

I have a 12 year old and a 10 year old and they get £10 and £8 respectively. I do not usually tie in pocket money to chores, although they do suggest they get extra for certain chores- which often works out at higher than my hourly rate and so is rejected.

I based my pocket money rates around what rthey can get for their money, what they are saving for and also (because I am peripherally (professionally) involved with children in care) what the recommended going rate is for foster children to receive while in foster care as their own spening money.

At 15 DS got his child benefit - he's an only child so got the full amount every four weeks.

We paid for uniform and basic toiletries, lunch ingredients etc, and mostly went halves on scout activities, music exams etc (he paid for his lessons himself)

After the first couple of payments where he went bonkers, he's become a fiend for saving and budgeting. He's at uni now and seems to be coping really well with the little money that he has to live on.

I had a foster son and SS tell me to give him £11.35 each week.

They don't. I can't afford it. They do get their phones paid for though, and occasionally I'll give them money if they are going out with their mates.

I've started giving DD some extra pocket money sometimes to cover her extra expenses. I'm aware that this might not be considered totally fair - however, if she runs out of money, then she can't join her friends having fun - and would just sit in her room on her laptop, so that doesn't feel right either?

I think being out of kilter with your friends is a big thing.
Before they turned 16 and all got jobs, they would to town for a mooch about but they generally bought nothing, inexpensive things, or spent birthday money (after birthdays). If they had any food it would be McDonalds or pound shop. More expensive items like cinema were once a month at most and probably less frequently that that. If you are in a friendship circle where, for example, the group all goes to Starbucks every day, I can see you'd "need" more money just to be on a par. Particularly if you're in a group where no one even gets jobs at 16.